Eleventh Lady followed the eldest wife down the carriage and found herself standing in front of a black-painted gray-tiled door with hanging flowers. The coachman, the accompanying guards, and the horses pulling the carriage were all gone. Only a few women wearing beautiful blue jackets and official green vests were coming forward to pay their respects to the eldest wife.
Mother Tao deliberately introduced one of the women, a tall, dark-skinned woman in her thirties, to the first wife: "This is Li Quan's family, in charge of the carriages in the mansion."
"Mrs. Li." The eldest wife smiled politely and nodded to the woman. Mrs. Xu had already taken out her purse to give her a reward.
Everyone took the purses with a smile and thanked the eldest lady for the reward. Mother Tao then accompanied the eldest lady up the steps of the hanging flower gate.
Wu Niang and Shiyi Niang followed the eldest wife at a leisurely pace. They heard Madam Li, who was accompanying them, laughing and saying, "...Our lady misses our wife every day. Yesterday, she received a letter saying that you were coming. At noon, she told us servants to prepare the carriage..."
As they were talking, they had already entered the hanging flower gate and saw three small oil trucks with green curtains parked in front of a wall shadow in front of them. They were used for transportation in the inner courtyard.
"Thank you for the trouble, Madam Li!" The eldest wife smiled and exchanged a few words with her, then Madam Xu helped her get into the carriage parked in the front.
"You two ladies, please get in the car too!" Mother Tao looked at Wu Niang and Shiyi Niang and smiled slightly, "Stop making Madam wait anxiously."
Wu Niang and Shiyi Niang both smiled and nodded to Mother Tao, then followed the example of the eldest lady and got on the small oil truck.
Compared with the plain exterior, the interior of the car is exquisitely and gorgeously decorated.
The carriage curtains were hung with ribbons embroidered with cloud patterns using colorful glass beads, and red and gold sachets were hung on the four corners. The bright blue brocade pillows and cushions were embroidered with moon-white plum blossoms...
Dong Qing stared at it with her eyes wide open, hugging the pillow in her arms: "Miss, this is the double-needle embroidery of Xianling Pavilion... Master Jian's former boss..." She was so excited that she couldn't speak. Amber, who was sitting next to her, was also shocked - the embroidery made by Xianling Pavilion with double-needle embroidery is as valuable as double-sided embroidery, but she didn't expect that the Xu family would use it to decorate the green curtained small oil car...
Eleventh Lady didn't even glance at it.
She always felt that anything that could be bought with money was not truly precious!
Because there were no outsiders around, Eleventh Lady lifted the curtain of the carriage to make a tiny gap and peeked out without any hesitation.
A sturdy woman brought out a trained mule, harnessed it to the cart with swift hands and feet, then gently patted the mule's neck. The mule then went around the shadow of the wall and onto a blue brick path with green pines and cypresses on both sides.
The carriage traveled for about two cups of tea, then turned left and went onto an alley.
There are high pink walls on both sides, and from Eleventh Lady's perspective, it feels like there is no end.
After a while she discovered that every time the carriage traveled a certain distance it would encounter a square bluestone lamppost leaning against the wall.
She had read about this kind of lamppost in a book. It was usually used in royal palaces or squares because it required a lot of pine oil to light it. Pine oil was expensive and rare, and it was not available to anyone with money. Even if it was available, it would cost a staggering amount to use it for many years.
Did the Xu family really light up these lamp posts at night to use as street lights?
Eleventh Lady couldn't help but lean forward, wanting to see if there were any signs of use on the lamppost...
"Miss, don't let the old women following the car see you!" Dong Qing reminded her in a low voice.
In addition to a woman leading the mule, there was also an elderly woman standing by the window of the green curtain oil cart - this arrangement was originally to allow the people in the cart to be called upon if needed. But everything has its pros and cons, and the people following the cart could easily find out if the people in the cart lifted the curtain and looked out...
Eleventh Lady looked out the window at the red gold hairpin inlaid with tourmaline that was clearly visible on the coachman's head, and smiled as she lowered the curtain.
Holly looked at that and breathed a sigh of relief.
Eleventh Lady couldn't help but laugh at her: "A plum blossom pillow shocked you?"
"Miss, this is not the time to tell jokes." Dong Qing said angrily, "You know that the eldest aunt is the eldest wife's treasure. If you hold her in your mouth, she might melt. If you hold her in your hand, she might drop her. If you ruin the eldest aunt's business, the eldest wife..." She hesitated to speak.
"I know!" Eleventh Lady assured quickly, "I'll just sit still and be quiet!"
Holly couldn't help but smile sweetly.
She knew that as long as the young lady promised, she would definitely do it!
Eleventh Lady looked at this and felt a pang in her heart.
The people around her must be very uneasy about this meeting with Yuanniang? Otherwise, why would they be so worried!
Thinking of this, she glanced at Amber who was sitting next to Holly - she hadn't spoken since getting on the bus.
Amber's expression looked calm.
Maybe it's because there are different lengths and depths in the time they spend together, so she doesn't worry about gains and losses like Dongqing!
Eleventh Lady smiled self-deprecatingly, and with the corner of her eye she saw the handkerchief crumpled into a ball by Amber.
*
The monotonous and cold sound of mule hooves made time suddenly stretch out.
I don't know how long it took, but the carriage turned left and stopped after about half an incense stick of time.
We should have arrived at Yuanniang's residence...
As Eleventh Lady was thinking, the maid who followed the carriage said softly through the curtain of the window: "My dear lady, we are here!"
Amber responded with "I know", then she leaned over to open the curtain and saw that the maid following the carriage had already put the footstool away. She stepped on the footstool and got out of the carriage, then turned around and helped Eleventh Lady get out of the carriage.
They stopped in front of a barbarian gate with gravel steps. A stone lion as tall as a person was standing by the threshold in a naive manner. The slightly anxious figure of the eldest wife disappeared at the door with the support of Mother Xu.
Eleventh Lady was secretly surprised, and felt that she was making a big fuss out of nothing.
After all, they haven't seen each other for more than ten years...
As soon as the thought flashed through her mind, sweat broke out on her back.
Since she missed her mother so much, why didn’t Yuanniang go to the second gate to greet her mother? Can it be understood that her body was so weak that if she went to the second gate to greet her mother, there would be very bad consequences? So, she couldn’t...
Thinking of this, Eleventh Lady's gaze fell on the gravel-like steps.
It was built diagonally to the eaves of the door... If you lower the high threshold, a carriage can go straight in from outside the door...
She saw Wu Niang bringing Ziwei and Ziyuan into the Barbarian Gate, so she calmed down and followed them in with Dongqing and Amber.
There was a hall in front of them, with corridors on the left and right leading to the hall. The courtyard was paved with bluestone bricks. At the entrance of the hall and at the four corners of the corridors, there were maids wearing beautiful blue jackets and official green vests, all standing with their hands hanging down, keeping quiet and holding their breath. When they saw Wu Niang and Shiyi Niang, the maids all bent their knees and bowed.
Eleventh Lady followed Fifth Lady into the hall from the corridor on the right.
The west hall was furnished with a central hall, a long desk, an armchair, a coffee table and other black lacquer furniture, making it a place for entertaining guests. However, the middle and east sides were empty and had nothing on them.
After leaving the hall, they did not see the eldest wife and her group. They were facing another courtyard. Facing them was a main house with five rooms and side rooms, and on both sides were three side rooms with side rooms, connected by a corridor to form a circular corridor. The courtyard was paved with blue bricks and a cross-shaped corridor, and a small pine tree as tall as a person was planted at each corner.
Seeing Wu Niang and Shiyi Niang coming out of the hall, the maids wearing bright blue jackets and official green bodices all knelt down and bowed to them under the eaves of the main house.
Eleventh Lady heard Fifth Lady sighing softly, looking very melancholy.
Is he feeling nostalgic for himself or for Yuan Niang?
"Miss, this way!" Mother Tao may have noticed that they didn't follow, so she turned around to look for them, and waved to them while standing in front of the side room of the main house.
The two of them hurriedly walked over from the corridor on the right.
"The madam lives in the back yard." Mother Tao explained to them with a smile, and then led them into the third yard through the black lacquered corner door next to the ear room.
The third courtyard is the same as the second courtyard, with five main rooms with side rooms, three side rooms with side rooms, and a blue brick cross path in the courtyard, but in the northwest corner is a rockery made of Taihu stones, and in the southeast corner are a few holly trees. Compared with the coldness of the previous courtyard, this courtyard feels much more lively.
Wu Niang and Shiyi Niang followed Mother Tao from the corridor on the right to the door of the main house. The little maid standing by had already lifted the curtain affectionately, and when she saw them approaching, she called out "Miss relatives" with a smile on her face.
Wu Niang and Shiyi Niang both smiled and nodded at the little maid, then went into the main room.
The floor was paved with mirror-like gold bricks, the ceiling was painted with bright colors, and there were three-gathering five-goat-horn palace lanterns hanging on the wall. In the middle hall was a picture of Guanyin sitting down, and in the middle of the long table was a three-legged incense burner with cloisonné enamel, from which the smell of sandalwood was wafting. On the left side of the long table was a foot-high rosewood-mounted mutton-fat jade Buddha's hand, and on the right side was a Ru kiln sky-blue glazed flower vase.
Eleventh Lady was stunned.
Looking east again, the rosewood floor-standing shade that rises step by step is hung with a beautiful blue curtain. In the middle of the side room stands a treasure chest, which contains a copper enamel inlaid with jade flower baskets, a blue and white porcelain plum vase, a Qishou Changchun white stone bonsai, a green ground purple flower glass vase...
Looking west, there are twelve red sandalwood lattice doors inlaid with ivory and glass. The four in the middle are open, and you can see a red sandalwood-framed ivory-inlaid screen with five hundred arhats separating the west secondary room and the west side room.
Eleventh Lady couldn't help but hold her breath.
It’s so... luxurious!
If it was just luxury, she wouldn't be surprised, but the problem was that it was in stark contrast to the plain blue bricks and gray tiles she saw along the way.
Especially the rosewood inlaid ivory flower-reflected glass lattice fan. The red-gold peony flowers floating in the royal blue glass are so dazzling that they can almost suffocate people.
Thinking of this, she couldn't help but glance at Wu Niang.
Wu Niang still had a decent smile on her face, but it seemed a little forced; her posture was still straight, but it seemed a little stiff... It looked like she had suffered a small blow!
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(The chapter you see is Zhizhi’s fourth draft. No wonder some people say “You never know how long the author pauses between two lines”... So please forgive me, sisters, there will be no updates in the next few days. I hope to summarize the lessons learned from the first two novels and try my best to write a work without too many flaws! Please understand Zhizhi’s decision. Thank you!
Again: Because of the power outage in the past two days, there were few opportunities to go online. Although I saw the comments in the comment section, I did not respond in time, sorry! )